Hancock Robert D, Viola Roberto
Quality, Health and Nutrition Programme, Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee.
J Agric Food Chem. 2005 Jun 29;53(13):5248-57. doi: 10.1021/jf0503863.
L-Ascorbic acid (AsA, vitamin C) is an essential human nutrient that must be obtained in the diet, with the vast majority being obtained from plant foods. A vitamin C-deficient diet results in the onset of scurvy, which can have lethal consequences. However, vitamin C has also been implicated in the prevention of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, and several neurodegenerative diseases. Although the supporting evidence for these claims is disputed, the dietary allowances for vitamin C have been recently increased in several countries, including the United States. This scenario, together with the general perception by consumers of vitamin C as being of benefit in the prevention of several lifestyle diseases and associated with general "well-being", contributes to a market rationale for enhancing the vitamin C content of crops. In recent years, there has been substantial progress in the understanding of vitamin C biochemistry in plants with a number of structural genes cloned. Here these findings are reviewed, and a description of how such knowledge could be applied to the nutritional enhancement of crops is given.
L-抗坏血酸（AsA，维生素C）是人体必需的营养素，必须通过饮食获取，其中绝大多数来自植物性食物。缺乏维生素C的饮食会导致坏血病，这可能会带来致命后果。然而，维生素C也被认为与预防慢性疾病有关，如心脏病、中风、癌症和几种神经退行性疾病。尽管这些说法的支持证据存在争议，但包括美国在内的几个国家最近都提高了维生素C的膳食摄入量。这种情况，再加上消费者普遍认为维生素C对预防多种生活方式疾病有益且与总体“健康”相关，为提高作物维生素C含量提供了市场依据。近年来，随着多个结构基因的克隆，人们对植物中维生素C生物化学的理解取得了重大进展。在此对这些发现进行综述，并描述如何将这些知识应用于作物的营养强化。
